June 30, 2020 • 33 mins
Doug tells you why we need to lower our expectations for Cam Newton and the Patriots in 2020. He also thinks Ian Desmond has his heart in the right place, but is making the wrong decision by sitting out of the MLB season. Plus, NBA Insider Chris Mannix joins the show to talk to Doug about NBA players preparing for the Orlando bubble and the Lakers making big changes to their roster.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Doug Gottlip
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for The Doug Gottlip Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:22):
of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox Sports Radio.
John Mikolkof is a friend of the show. He appears
every Friday. Uh. He has the three Now podcast, which
is all about football. He's he's magnificent and he does
these little Twitter shows and on his Twitter show he
was like, thank God for the Cam Newton story. It's
(00:44):
the most normal story we've had. We finally have a
normal sports story, which is a great way to put
it right. Like guy who was face of the franchise,
m v P of the league without a job then
signs the Patriots for pennies on the dollar. That's a
(01:04):
normal sports story, right. There isn't And I'm not trying
to take away from some of the other stories, but
there's been lots of other stories which are just so
different from things we're not sports guys were not used
to talking about racial injustice because generally in sports it's
a meritocracy. The best guy plays, period, or maybe the
(01:28):
guy with the biggest contract, who at some point in
time was thought to be the best guy, gets the
right of first refusal. But now that I have heard
a day and a half of reaction on Cam Newton
signing and n an NFL minimum veteran contract deal that's
incentively laden, I've I have reached the point of a reckoning. Right,
(01:50):
we have to slow down on Cam Newton. In basketball,
the expression is you're open for a reason, and maybe
in all profession sports it would be you're unemployed for
a reason. Now, I would say that part of the
reason that Cam Newton was unemployed as long as he
was unemployed was because there was the thought and I
(02:11):
think he felt I should be a starter, and when
you tell people you want to be a starter, that
translates into I want starter money, and to go from
making nineteen million to making one million, I don't think
he would have been at that place going back a
month or two months ago. Jamis Winston didn't help him.
But I would also say that the Patriots being the
(02:33):
team that offered him did help him, not just because
they don't have a definable starter, but because of the
respect that Bill Belichick has, his ability to tinker game plans.
I told you about Jacoby Brissett, even Josh McDaniels when
he was in Denver and he had Tim Tebow. The
ability to change your offense to fit your personnel is
uh is something you're gonna have to do if you
(02:53):
want Cam Newton. He is not Tom Brady, He's not.
But we've reached this point where now we have a
guy who was a former great player, has had multiple surgeries,
was on the open market. Anyone could have signed him,
and only one team offered him and only two teams
discussed things with him. Now we've reached this point to
(03:14):
where you're like, all right, slow down. Here's Ron Rivera,
his former head coach who's now the head coach the
Washington Redskins on six seven to the Score, sharing his
expectations for Cam in New England. Just based on the
stuff that I've seen in some of the people that
I've talked with, he's headed in the right direction. I mean,
he's probably about as healthy as a guess from what
I've seen on videos, so I think I think he's
(03:34):
ready to to bus Scottle. I really do. I mean,
I would never bet against the young man, that's for sure. Um,
except you weren't willing to bet on him, right, Like,
let's be honest. I and and Ron Rivera was there
for when Cam Newton won the m v P. But
this like, I wouldn't bet against him, Well you kind
(03:55):
of well, okay, you didn't bet against him, but you
didn't bet on him because remember they traded for his
backup and you could say, well, it was about money.
The backup only made a couple hundred grand. That's what
Cam Newton signed for. Right, That's that's like saying Peter bets.
But memory Pete Rose. His defense for betting on baseball
was like, hey, I never bet against my team, Yes,
(04:17):
but there are plenty of days where you didn't bet
on your team. That's the same thing. Well, I only
bet on my team. Did you bet on your team
every game? NoHo had to be stupid. There's just games
we weren't gonna win. I wouldn't been like, okay, So
the signal to anybody who's aware at all who you
bet with if you didn't bet on your team that day.
You knew you were gonna lose again. Here we go.
(04:41):
So I get I heard Mike Tannenbaum was former GM
of the Dolphins. He was on another network and he
was like the automatically the favorites to win the a
f C East and like, okay, wait, slow down. The
guy has been hurt for the past couple of years.
He hasn't made the team yet. It Jared Stidham has
(05:02):
more than a leg up on him in terms of
knowledge of the system, of the verbiage of the players.
And it is this is a smart by by the Patriots,
smart bye by the Patriots. Brilliant you know this This
is this is the Patriots looking at a stock that
five years ago was through the roof, right, five years
(05:24):
ago was through the roof, and they're like, you know,
I didn't like the stock at its peak. I thought
it was a good stock, but it was a little
bit overvalued. But now it's a penny stock. This is
this is like buying under Armour today, ironically, a brand
that works with cam Newton. This is buying under Armour.
(05:45):
You know, five years ago you're like, man under Armour.
They might take down Nike. Someday they might do it.
They got staph and they got Cam. You know, now
they got no tre dame. They got some dudes. This
I I like, And now you're like man under armers
in bad, bad shape. It's in bad shape. But they
(06:07):
still have a good brand. There's still an American brand.
They still have shaken up. You know, they rattled the
cages of the folks at Nike. Is it a stock
that will ever climb to the heights that it was before?
Will they ever be, you know, seen as on par
with Adidas? Not not yet Nike or whatever? Maybe? Probably not?
(06:28):
But can you make some money on that stock? Shore sure?
Which is kind of how the Patriots are looking at
Cam Newton. Will he ever be an m v P again? No? No,
I mean he's taking more hits than anybody in football
over the past ten years. I don't care how big
you are. Can't be a battering ram like that. But
(06:53):
can you get a ton of value? Could you potentially
get a starting quarterback out of it? I don't see
what not. I don't think that's crazy talk at all.
So we gotta we gotta slow down on the favors
to win the AFC East. Uh, they replaced one m
v P with another, Like, technically that's accurate. But I've
(07:13):
even heard, well, you look at Belichick, he's owing two
against Cam Newton. People are pointing to a play from
two thousand thirteen. It's two thousand twenty. Do you know
how different the world is in the last seven years.
I don't, So I'm not sitting here telling you he's
gonna stink or he's gonna get cut. But it is
(07:36):
the possibility. There is a possibility there that he does
get cut. There is the possibility that he doesn't see
the field. There is also the possibility that he's just okay,
or that he plays and he gets hurt, because that's
what's happened most of the two of the past three years.
You know, it's an odd fit for how they've played.
We'll see if they'll change how they're playing and we'll
(07:57):
see if that even works, or we'll see if he
gets a chance to play that way. Is it Jared's
did him in the old offense and Cam Newton in
the new offense, and Cam Newton's in the new offense,
and they used him as a runner. Willie hold up
because Carolina clearly said we don't think you can hold
up as a runner anymore. Again, I'm not telling you
it won't work. But here we are a day and
(08:18):
a half into the Cam Newton News and he got
Ron Rivera just lying through his teeth. Oh, I wouldn't
bet against him. Wait, you traded for a Carolina Panther
quarterback and it was his backup and you didn't have
to trade. You don't have to give up anything to
get Kim. You just wait, he's gonna get cut. Could
offered him the veterans minimum and gone about your day.
(08:43):
And I understand that having Dwayne Haskins, there's some delicacy
there because you have a guy who was a first
round traffick and the owner wants to see see him succeed.
I get that, but there's never any discussion about him
joining the Redskins immediately. And also I'm actually I don't
actually think this is a smart move I Cam, If
you really think about it, the more risky play was
(09:04):
to wait and see which quarterback got hurt and then
hope he could be replaced a racement. Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson,
Josh Allen, Um, you know Dwayne Haskins if he stinks
or or he could have waited on New England. Now
getting with them and getting into a system and integrated
that that's that's a solid plan, but it's one where
(09:24):
it better work because if it doesn't, it could be
really hard to catch out with your next team. Be
sure to catch the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three pm Easter Noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio whap. Ian Desmond Obviously,
he's black player. He plays for the Colorado Rockies, and
he's really good. Um he's started four years old, so
(09:46):
it's not his first trip around the diamond. He's hit
a one home runs in his uh in his Major
League Baseball career, three times Silver Slugger, two time All Star.
Dude's a legit player, legit player from Sara Sota, lives
in Sarasta, and um, look, he comes off playing last
(10:06):
year with the Colorado Rockies, which probably on some levels
stinks for him because a good portion of his career
he spent playing for the Washington Nationals. They finally win
a World Series. He's in he's in Colorado. Um but
uh look, he's a guy who comes off a year
which he had twenty home runs and sixty five r
(10:27):
b I in a hundred forty games. He was still
gonna play in Major League baseball. His wife is pregnant,
he's got four kids, and and and his logic behind
opting out to stay home was, hey, I got four kids,
one on the way. He got COVID nineteen and and
this is a big thing for him, and I actually
(10:48):
understand it, um, he said. Recently, I took a drive
to the little league fields I was basically raised on
here in sarah Sota. They're not in great shape. They
look run down, neglected. When I saw a cal Ripken
little league schedule attacked on the bulletin board, I walked
over to check it out. It was from two thousand fifteen.
(11:09):
The only thing shining and new from my eyes was
the uss S a banner travel ball showcases. So not
so much baseball for all anymore as baseball for a
hall who can afford it. I know it sounds simple
to say a major league baseball player that these fields
were important in shaping my life, But I don't mean
(11:30):
my career. Mhm um. These fields where I learned a
game that I've played one thousand, four hundred seventy eight
times the major league level that I started on when
I was ten, eleven, twelve years old. That's exactly how
um how old um. He's talking about a kid who's
ended up uh getting a chance to play Major League baseball.
(11:50):
Can name Antoine? He couldn't read. He could barely say
his A, B c's. One morning, his mom was shuffling
Antoine and her siblings off to their aunt's house at
four am so she could work. They opened the door
and a man's stabbed to death on the ground, So
no sleep, traumatized by the murder literally outside their door,
eating who knows what for lunch. They had up to
school and they're expected to form in the classroom. He
(12:13):
goes on to talk about how there's only eight percent
but black players, um, and only to African American general
African American managers, one black general manager, no black majority
team owners. Uh. This kid, Antoine was twelve years old
when he started going to National's Youth Baseball Academy. That's
(12:36):
when it started existing in his universe. We got him
a tutor, he got another programs, he learned how to read.
He was on the right track. He died in his
eighteen shot thirty one times in d C. A sixteen
year old kid was just arrested for his murder. I'm
like Ian Desmond, you guys got to read. This post
is long, and it's really really interesting. And so he's
(12:59):
gonna take the year off. Still wants to play baseball,
he wants to be around his kids, and he wants
to help Sarah Sota little le and I commend him
for it, but I have to ask the other question,
which is, you know, kids emulate and and look, this
is a hard one because I can't It's it's hard
(13:21):
to find what the absolute positive answer to why the
numbers for uh black baseball players are so down right?
I mean, look, I think a lot of things about baseball,
but if baseball, if you can hit a baseball, if
you can throw a baseball, and no one's ever cared
if you're laden, no one's ever cared what other country
(13:43):
you come from with color skin? Is? This is about
the the amount of participation and access to it for
young black youth. Is there a there's there a lack
of cool factor? Sure, right, Michael Jordan's to Alan Iverson
to Penny Hardaway, to Shock to staff, to James Harden too,
(14:09):
you know, Lebron James. Obviously basketball players are. It's it's cooler,
right But but but that that could only be but
part of the reason that so many all kids, white kids,
black as no matter are drawn to basketball is the
cool factor, of the fun factors, constant action. But you know,
(14:30):
we emulate the people we see do it right, We emulate,
don't you. You Obviously you have a favorite player growing up,
like a guy you might have, you know, Mike, if
you're a Jordan guy, you're a Lebron guy, you're a
Penny guy, you're a grady guy, whatever you are. But
then there was usually somebody who you felt particularly drawn to,
(14:52):
maybe because he was from your area, but or maybe
more likely because he might look like you. You look,
I started playing basketball. My dad was a basketball coach,
just kind of what we did. But I was my
idols in the sport look like me, John Stockton, Mark Price,
Bobby Hurley. That doesn't mean like Sherman Douglas was a
(15:13):
guy that I'm trying to model my game after some
But you know, you're watching guys that look like you,
that feel like That's what I'm gonna look like when
I grow up, I can do what you can do it.
It's the same thing that black people have told you
about Obama, Like you don't understand unless you're black, to
see a black man as the president of the most
powerful man in the free world, like that is a
that that should change your perspective on what's possible. So
(15:36):
I guess here's my question for you and Desmond. I
fully understand that you are torn and you want to
protect your kids and you want to help the future.
But could you make the argument that you're actually hurting
the very population you want to help by staying home.
And here's why that's you're taking away one more black
(15:56):
face from baseball, right if it's only eight percent ball players,
that percented shrinks the second that he and Desmond, who's
been a terrific player for a long time in Major
League baseball, it takes them away from that. And and again,
I am not telling you I have the answer, and
I'm not telling you that what he's doing is a
bad thing. I think and some NBA players choosing in
(16:20):
the middle of their careers to not go play and
coming up with all kind of cockamami excuses that I think.
I feel like it's a little different than a guy
with four and one on the way, and he there's
a thoughtfulness to this, get it. But my my issue
is only in when you take a breath and you
try and cut the emotion out of an emotional, thoughtful piece.
(16:41):
It's okay, you're right, you know, the violence in our
inner cities is terrible. The access to baseball is it's
just too expensive a sport for anybody white, black, or
we or otherwise in our country right other countries you don't.
They don't seem to need it. And we've established academies,
(17:02):
you know, all these baseball teams have academies in these
countries so that they can find the best. But I
don't know, Vian Desmond is actually hurting the very thing
he wants to help if this is the reason that
he's sitting out. Be sure to catch the live edition
of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m.
Easter noon Pacific. Chris Mannox joins us from Sports Illustrated
(17:23):
Mannix what do you make of of the Brooklyn Nets. Well,
I'm not exactly sure who from the Brooklyn Nets will
be traveling down to Orlando at this point. Um, you know,
I I don't think Spencer did Witty is going to
ultimately be a part of it at all. I don't
know if he's officially announced that yet, but that's the
the inclination I'm getting. Obviously, DeAndre Jordan's is out, and
(17:48):
I don't know. I mean, look, there's motivation. I'm sure
you've talked about this on some level, but like, if
they don't make the playoffs, they get to keep their
first round draft picks. So if they, you know, slide
out of the postseason, think would be a lot of
people in Brooklyn perfectly happy with with that. So I
think that's uh, you know that that has to be
factored in here. You think about what the Nets are
(18:08):
gonna look like over the next month or so. Sex
Jack Vaughan, I was like, man, I'm trying to keep
his job here. Yeah, it does too, I think. You know, again,
this was all like three months ago, so god knows
what's changed in the minds of ownership there since then.
But I do think there was a desire in the
Nets front office for Jacques Vaughn to finish the season
(18:31):
and do enough to keep the job. I mean, there
was there's a lot of people in Brooklyn that have
incredible respect for Jack Vaughan. When when Kenny Atkinson was
new to the job, I mean, it was Jacque Vaughan
that was a strong voice in his ear as a
former head coach, kind of showing him the ropes along
the way. And it's been a big part of that staff.
So I think, you know, there are people in nets
front office. I know that hoped Jack von could do
(18:53):
enough to keep the job. Now, um, it's certainly gonna
be difficult for for that to happen. I I agree,
I agree, I mean, I just how does the I mean,
the league is just they gotta be just Besides, here's
what I understand. I get when you test positive for
the coronavirus. But but the idea is like fourteen days
of quarantine, you're you should be good to go, right
(19:16):
And and if if people are concerned about well, you know,
you get inside the bubble, you could get it like
these guys have it outside the bubble. But there's there's
no bubble to the outside world anymore. You actually are
safer once you get down there. Yeah, And and I
haven't followed up on the specific situation with Jordan's and
din Witty. But you know, by bowing out because of
(19:38):
the coronavirus um and being infected by it, it is
a way to stay off, you know, stay out of
all this and you know, keep your money. You know,
some of the guys that are fouling out, you know,
at least for right now, you know, the presumption is
they're not going to get paid, whether it's Avery Bradley
or Trevor Readsa. I ultimately dug and not to change
(20:00):
the question the answer here, but I openmately think that
everybody's gonna wind up getting paid because it's so hard
to take money away from players that don't play on
the playoff teams and give it to guys who are
not playing you know, right now, not playing basketball, not
reporting down to Orlando. But it is a fact that
if there's a health of related reason that you can't
(20:21):
go to Orlando, you are going to be able to
get paid and get all your money. So that's that's
something to think about when when factoring in some of
these decisions. Chris Mannocks join us in the Doug Alive
Show on Fox Sports Radio. Lakers are going to add JR.
Smith and yet they lose Avery Bradley. Are the Lakers
done adding? I think for now they're done adding because
(20:46):
the way it was was explained to me and I
believe this is going in. I mean that j R.
Smith was you know, break glass in case of emergency there.
I mean, they feel like they've got pretty solid depths
in that backcourt. Know Danny Green, who hasn't been great
this year, but it's been a great playoff performer in
years past. Caldwell Pope has got the confidence of of
(21:07):
Lebron Alex Caruso. I mean, you know this, but like
look look at the numbers out of crucial has with
Lebron's I think he's the highest plus minus of any
player with Lebron um you know, on anybody on that roster.
He's really good partically playing with him. So you bring
j R. In and they worked him out before. Dion
Waiters part of that mixed too. I mean, I think
they're they're comfortable with with what they have right now.
(21:29):
There's no doubt like Avery Bradley is a crushing loss.
I I wrote this when they signed Avery Bradley. I
love Avery Bradley. I think he gets a bad rap
sometimes and he did have a rough goal with the Clippers,
but the guy defends multiple positions. He can shoot for
three reasonably well as a backup ball handler when you
need him. I mean that that guy was playing what
(21:51):
five minutes per game and was having his best month
in the month of March when he went out. So,
I mean it's a body blow for that team. But
I just think the Lakers feel like they're they're at
the point where anybody they bring in is just in
case another injury or another defection happens. Doug Olive Show
here on Fox Sports Radio, I agree with you. Okay,
(22:11):
what about Lou Williams. What are you hearing about the
like because that would be the tip for tat right
is we don't know if Lou Williams will go Uh Ultimately,
what do you think happens with the Clippers? Yeah, I mean, look,
if Lou Williams isn't available, that that's that's a bigger
loss I think than every brand. That just because Lou
Williams is such an instrumental part of their bench scoring
(22:33):
that that is a tough one to overcome on. I
don't know, I mean, like I guess I just see
when it actually happens, he decides if he's not gonna play.
But for for that would be I think that would
be the equivalent or or worse of the loss of
Davy's a different kind of loss because Lou Williams would
bring much defensively, but what he does offensively, I mean
(22:55):
he goes without saying that the guy's a multi time
six man winner. I mean he's he's as good as
they have to say at the back of scoring point
card position, Doug alliave show you're unfod okay. So then
you have like the Bucks who are out there, you know,
laying in wait. This is this is huge. How important
is it for the Bucks to perform well? Because we
know what's coming this this offseason is the super Max
(23:17):
contract that is without any question, going to be offered
to Janice. He doesn't have to accept it. But how
important is at least an NBA Finals appearance to the Bucks.
I think it's really important. And I don't think anything
sage from the perception we had going into all this
that Milwaukee had to have a great playoffs and great
(23:37):
playoffs you know, probably was defined as a trip to
the finals to get Janice to sign long term now
things have obviously seems a little bit this whole you know,
the pandemic playoffs are a little bit different, and you know,
there's one of the things you have the factor in
your honest they want to stay in Milwaukee, but because
of the uncertainty of the economic landscape moving forward, there
(23:59):
might be financial reasons not to sign that that long
term extension right now. I mean, it's there's a lot
of of of moving that can happen with that, that
salary cap and and the collective bargaining agreement in the
next year that could could make it just smarter to
sit back and and wait for it. And that's something
I think it makes even more sense for Janice right now.
(24:20):
So one way the other does he could decide not
to not to sign there. I will say this, it's
going to be I mean, I'm I'm tentatively planning on
going down trying to get into the bubble. That's got
to my plan at this moment. It's I almost want
to sit in the Bucks Hotel because they're sharing the
hotel with Toronto and Miami, like two teams that are
(24:42):
going to make, you know, an incredible run at at
Janice in the in the coming year, like that's gonna
be that as one CM called it, the temple of
tampering there where you have guys maybe recruiting Janice throughout
the course of that playoff. That is almost a sidelight
to all this, you know, those three teams sharing one hotel.
The only issue I have with with with not sign
(25:03):
the contract is there could be another side to the
financial stuff, right like when we come back online, we
don't know when you'll be able to get people into arenas.
And once they get into arenas, you know, the economy
has to have a massive turnaround for people to the
expectations that people in corporations are even gonna buy seats.
M hm, no, I get it, um okay, Look, and
(25:26):
he could sign that contract. All I'm saying is that
things have changed so much that we don't know, you know,
could the end be Could the collected Bartain Grinn be
reopened next year? If it looks like in you know,
September October that there's no chance to have fans in
buildings throughout season. There's just a lot of that that
just changed the landscape a little bit. From well he
(25:48):
doesn't sign it, you really almost have to trade him
to where if he doesn't sign it, it might be
for a different reason than he doesn't want to be
in Milwaukee. He could put the Bucks in a tough
position where they could just have to roll the dice
and hope that he wants to stay. But it's not
as cut and dry, I think as it used to be. Yeah,
I would agree with you. It's just gonna be fascinating
to see what happens economically with with with so many
(26:12):
of these teams. Chris Bannocks join us from the Doug
Gotlief Show on Fox Sports. Trader, if you had to
pick a team that you think could be in the
NBA Finals that we haven't, we we mentioned three teams.
Who would the other? Who is the most likely sleeper team? Uh, well,
I'll give you to one of the West and one
of the East. In the West, they're not even the
playoffs right now. But I look at Portland's I mean,
(26:34):
they're one of those teams that has been completely changed
since the end of the season. They're going to roll
back with Yusef Nurkic and Zach Collins, two guys that
are enormously important for them and have been out for
all or most of the year. Uh in the case
of Nurk out since that grotesque injury from over a
year ago. Those are I don't know what kind of
shape they're both in at this point, what they can give,
(26:56):
but they're back and they're gonna be able to play.
And when you have those guys, you know, kind of
shoring up the front court. If Livitt McCollum catch fires,
they can be downright unbeatable. So if they make a
run sneak in the playing game, Um, I just I
think they can be a scary team in the bottom
half of that playoffs. And look, the last time we
went through something like this, or not the last time,
(27:17):
but one of the last times was the gate seed Nicks,
you know, making a run us the NBA Finals. So
strange things happen in strange years. Eastern Conference, I've written
this before, but in Philadelphia for a lot of the
same reason as Portland's. I mean, they they're almost built
for pandemic basketball where teams can't make threes for the
most part and you have to flug it out in
(27:37):
maybe five types of games because of scoring, and the
skill level is so bad. They can defend at elite
levels at at least three positions. Al Horfors in bad
all year has been really good in the playoffs for
Boston for the last few years. Maybe he steps his
game back up. And Simmons being back when he wouldn't
have been back in mid March is a total game changer.
So I Philadelphia to me is almost gone from a
(27:59):
team that was right there on the cusp of being
just potentially broken up. Brett Brown could have been gone,
Brand could have been gone. You might be talking with
trading Simmons or embiid to break them up to being
in a point right now where I guarantee you with
the next situation, those top teams in the East are
going to be finding a way way to get away
from Philadelphia. They will not want to play them in
(28:21):
the first round if at all possible. And the Sixers,
if they can get enough offense, I think they can
make a run too. Chris mannos our guest in the
Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio, that there
was a report last night from Major Wards Nawski that
they're going to have Black Lives Matter on the floor
in Orlando. Is that accurate? That's accurate. Yeah, that's the
that's the plan right now to have it. I don't
(28:43):
know what the word is and Boston or whatever on
the court in Orlando. Um, has anybody thought of the
I mean, like is it. Look, I can sit here
and tell you that I'm just as bothered as anybody
at what happened to George Floyd and some of the
other videos and things that I know do occur. But
as anybody who thought of the you know, you don't
(29:06):
have to be like it does feel like you're picking
a You're you're very much picking a side in a debate,
and you're not like the idea for like what if
somebody in the back of their jersey wanted to put
them won't but Trump like he is the president? You know,
Like I don't. I don't know like it. It feels
like you're going like, hey, we want free speech, you
(29:27):
want but you're not really You're saying, this is exactly
what we want to say as a league, and that's
kind of the opposite of the intent. Yeah, look, I
think it's it's a fair question. I think what the
NBA is doing right now is first and foremost reaction
to what the concerns players brought up in that Kyrie Irving,
(29:50):
Avery Bradley lead phone call. I think the NBA all
along was going to try to alleviate those concerns. But
you know, the concerns that the social se movement could
get lost in the shuffle of a resumed NBA c's
are very real in the minds of players. You know,
Fred van Bleep at a conference call this week where
you know, he talked about how, you know, reluctant he
(30:12):
was to come back, and he said, if there were
more people that had said, uh, you know, we're not
coming back, he might have joined them in in all that. So,
I think the NBA wanted to make sure that an
addressed player concerns and this was something Remember, this is
something the NBA is not just unial laterally saying you know,
let's here's an idea, let's do it. It's done, and
decisions are made in concert with Michelle Roberts and Chris
(30:35):
Paul with the union. This is something that they want
and something the NBA is fine with doing. So like
you could be right, like they are. They could be
picking a side and they could if somebody does, you know,
put something potentially controversial on their jersey, or if players
and maths take a knee during the anthem in the
same way the National Women's Soccer League players. Did you
(30:55):
know we could have a highly politicized conversation, you know,
spearheaded present. But here's the thing, Manx and like, look,
if you look at the women in the National Women's
Professional Soccer League, that took me one woman to not
right now she had her hand on her teammates shoulder.
Who who who was kneeling like I do, I of
(31:19):
course everybody. I mean, like I would think that people
want people want justice for George Floyd, justice for Brianna
Taylor and and and others. On the other hand, like
the everyone's plan is not the same, you know, And
I just I think it's I think it's fascinating that,
(31:39):
in an effort to to you know, pacify, I think
a portion and I don't know if it's a majority,
Even if it is a majority of the players, you're
actually limiting free speech by saying, we are aligning ourselves
with this one political movement. And I kind of think
that's a dangerous path, not just because you're actually cutting
off any any conversation, but you also run the risk
(32:02):
of alienating a portion of your fan base. And you
may say you don't care, like I wouldn't care about
the super all right, but there's plenty of other people
that don't think completely along the same lines that are
reasonable human beings and citizens of this country that are
paying you know, they're paying customers. I just I think
there's a dangerous path. I don't disagree with you. I
think that it's it is a dangerous path to be on. UM.
(32:27):
I think it's it's almost unavoidable to lose some fans
in this process because there are going to be some
people that you know, see players with certain things on
their jerseys, or see the Black Lives Matter uh and
embossed on these courts, or see players taken knee and
will be automatically turned off by it in the same
(32:47):
way fans were turned off in the NFL. But it's
just look, there's no solution here. There's no like you
or I cannot sit here and say here's exactly what
you should do. The NBA is making a choice, and
it is the league that is. I think we uh
black players, minority players, So I think this is the
way they're choosing, and and they'll live with the fallout.
(33:09):
US it's gonna be it's it is. It will be fascinating. Man,
it's great stuff. I can't wait to hear your bubble
preparations if in fact you go into the bubble and
the update of what's really going on in the bubble.
I wonder if you keep a blogger of v log
in the meantime. Thanks for joining us. Why not, Doug,
I'm I'm unmarried, no kids. Why hell wouldn't I go
in the bubble. I don't know why you would. I
wouldn't want to know anybody like you know. Thanks so much.
(33:30):
Man's Chris Banks joining us on The Doug Gotlip Show
on Fox Sports Radio.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Doug Gottlip
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
for The Doug Gottlip Show at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs R. This is the best
(00:22):
of the Doug got Leave Show on Fox Sports Radio.
John Mikolkof is a friend of the show. He appears
every Friday. Uh. He has the three Now podcast, which
is all about football. He's he's magnificent and he does
these little Twitter shows and on his Twitter show he
was like, thank God for the Cam Newton story. It's
(00:44):
the most normal story we've had. We finally have a
normal sports story, which is a great way to put
it right. Like guy who was face of the franchise,
m v P of the league without a job then
signs the Patriots for pennies on the dollar. That's a
(01:04):
normal sports story, right. There isn't And I'm not trying
to take away from some of the other stories, but
there's been lots of other stories which are just so
different from things we're not sports guys were not used
to talking about racial injustice because generally in sports it's
a meritocracy. The best guy plays, period, or maybe the
(01:28):
guy with the biggest contract, who at some point in
time was thought to be the best guy, gets the
right of first refusal. But now that I have heard
a day and a half of reaction on Cam Newton
signing and n an NFL minimum veteran contract deal that's
incentively laden, I've I have reached the point of a reckoning. Right,
(01:50):
we have to slow down on Cam Newton. In basketball,
the expression is you're open for a reason, and maybe
in all profession sports it would be you're unemployed for
a reason. Now, I would say that part of the
reason that Cam Newton was unemployed as long as he
was unemployed was because there was the thought and I
(02:11):
think he felt I should be a starter, and when
you tell people you want to be a starter, that
translates into I want starter money, and to go from
making nineteen million to making one million, I don't think
he would have been at that place going back a
month or two months ago. Jamis Winston didn't help him.
But I would also say that the Patriots being the
(02:33):
team that offered him did help him, not just because
they don't have a definable starter, but because of the
respect that Bill Belichick has, his ability to tinker game plans.
I told you about Jacoby Brissett, even Josh McDaniels when
he was in Denver and he had Tim Tebow. The
ability to change your offense to fit your personnel is
uh is something you're gonna have to do if you
(02:53):
want Cam Newton. He is not Tom Brady, He's not.
But we've reached this point where now we have a
guy who was a former great player, has had multiple surgeries,
was on the open market. Anyone could have signed him,
and only one team offered him and only two teams
discussed things with him. Now we've reached this point to
(03:14):
where you're like, all right, slow down. Here's Ron Rivera,
his former head coach who's now the head coach the
Washington Redskins on six seven to the Score, sharing his
expectations for Cam in New England. Just based on the
stuff that I've seen in some of the people that
I've talked with, he's headed in the right direction. I mean,
he's probably about as healthy as a guess from what
I've seen on videos, so I think I think he's
(03:34):
ready to to bus Scottle. I really do. I mean,
I would never bet against the young man, that's for sure. Um,
except you weren't willing to bet on him, right, Like,
let's be honest. I and and Ron Rivera was there
for when Cam Newton won the m v P. But
this like, I wouldn't bet against him, Well you kind
(03:55):
of well, okay, you didn't bet against him, but you
didn't bet on him because remember they traded for his
backup and you could say, well, it was about money.
The backup only made a couple hundred grand. That's what
Cam Newton signed for. Right, That's that's like saying Peter bets.
But memory Pete Rose. His defense for betting on baseball
was like, hey, I never bet against my team, Yes,
(04:17):
but there are plenty of days where you didn't bet
on your team. That's the same thing. Well, I only
bet on my team. Did you bet on your team
every game? NoHo had to be stupid. There's just games
we weren't gonna win. I wouldn't been like, okay, So
the signal to anybody who's aware at all who you
bet with if you didn't bet on your team that day.
You knew you were gonna lose again. Here we go.
(04:41):
So I get I heard Mike Tannenbaum was former GM
of the Dolphins. He was on another network and he
was like the automatically the favorites to win the a
f C East and like, okay, wait, slow down. The
guy has been hurt for the past couple of years.
He hasn't made the team yet. It Jared Stidham has
(05:02):
more than a leg up on him in terms of
knowledge of the system, of the verbiage of the players.
And it is this is a smart by by the Patriots,
smart bye by the Patriots. Brilliant you know this This
is this is the Patriots looking at a stock that
five years ago was through the roof, right, five years
(05:24):
ago was through the roof, and they're like, you know,
I didn't like the stock at its peak. I thought
it was a good stock, but it was a little
bit overvalued. But now it's a penny stock. This is
this is like buying under Armour today, ironically, a brand
that works with cam Newton. This is buying under Armour.
(05:45):
You know, five years ago you're like, man under Armour.
They might take down Nike. Someday they might do it.
They got staph and they got Cam. You know, now
they got no tre dame. They got some dudes. This
I I like, And now you're like man under armers
in bad, bad shape. It's in bad shape. But they
(06:07):
still have a good brand. There's still an American brand.
They still have shaken up. You know, they rattled the
cages of the folks at Nike. Is it a stock
that will ever climb to the heights that it was before?
Will they ever be, you know, seen as on par
with Adidas? Not not yet Nike or whatever? Maybe? Probably not?
(06:28):
But can you make some money on that stock? Shore sure?
Which is kind of how the Patriots are looking at
Cam Newton. Will he ever be an m v P again? No? No,
I mean he's taking more hits than anybody in football
over the past ten years. I don't care how big
you are. Can't be a battering ram like that. But
(06:53):
can you get a ton of value? Could you potentially
get a starting quarterback out of it? I don't see
what not. I don't think that's crazy talk at all.
So we gotta we gotta slow down on the favors
to win the AFC East. Uh, they replaced one m
v P with another, Like, technically that's accurate. But I've
(07:13):
even heard, well, you look at Belichick, he's owing two
against Cam Newton. People are pointing to a play from
two thousand thirteen. It's two thousand twenty. Do you know
how different the world is in the last seven years.
I don't, So I'm not sitting here telling you he's
gonna stink or he's gonna get cut. But it is
(07:36):
the possibility. There is a possibility there that he does
get cut. There is the possibility that he doesn't see
the field. There is also the possibility that he's just okay,
or that he plays and he gets hurt, because that's
what's happened most of the two of the past three years.
You know, it's an odd fit for how they've played.
We'll see if they'll change how they're playing and we'll
(07:57):
see if that even works, or we'll see if he
gets a chance to play that way. Is it Jared's
did him in the old offense and Cam Newton in
the new offense, and Cam Newton's in the new offense,
and they used him as a runner. Willie hold up
because Carolina clearly said we don't think you can hold
up as a runner anymore. Again, I'm not telling you
it won't work. But here we are a day and
(08:18):
a half into the Cam Newton News and he got
Ron Rivera just lying through his teeth. Oh, I wouldn't
bet against him. Wait, you traded for a Carolina Panther
quarterback and it was his backup and you didn't have
to trade. You don't have to give up anything to
get Kim. You just wait, he's gonna get cut. Could
offered him the veterans minimum and gone about your day.
(08:43):
And I understand that having Dwayne Haskins, there's some delicacy
there because you have a guy who was a first
round traffick and the owner wants to see see him succeed.
I get that, but there's never any discussion about him
joining the Redskins immediately. And also I'm actually I don't
actually think this is a smart move I Cam, If
you really think about it, the more risky play was
(09:04):
to wait and see which quarterback got hurt and then
hope he could be replaced a racement. Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson,
Josh Allen, Um, you know Dwayne Haskins if he stinks
or or he could have waited on New England. Now
getting with them and getting into a system and integrated
that that's that's a solid plan, but it's one where
(09:24):
it better work because if it doesn't, it could be
really hard to catch out with your next team. Be
sure to catch the live edition of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three pm Easter Noon Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio whap. Ian Desmond Obviously,
he's black player. He plays for the Colorado Rockies, and
he's really good. Um he's started four years old, so
(09:46):
it's not his first trip around the diamond. He's hit
a one home runs in his uh in his Major
League Baseball career, three times Silver Slugger, two time All Star.
Dude's a legit player, legit player from Sara Sota, lives
in Sarasta, and um, look, he comes off playing last
(10:06):
year with the Colorado Rockies, which probably on some levels
stinks for him because a good portion of his career
he spent playing for the Washington Nationals. They finally win
a World Series. He's in he's in Colorado. Um but
uh look, he's a guy who comes off a year
which he had twenty home runs and sixty five r
(10:27):
b I in a hundred forty games. He was still
gonna play in Major League baseball. His wife is pregnant,
he's got four kids, and and and his logic behind
opting out to stay home was, hey, I got four kids,
one on the way. He got COVID nineteen and and
this is a big thing for him, and I actually
(10:48):
understand it, um, he said. Recently, I took a drive
to the little league fields I was basically raised on
here in sarah Sota. They're not in great shape. They
look run down, neglected. When I saw a cal Ripken
little league schedule attacked on the bulletin board, I walked
over to check it out. It was from two thousand fifteen.
(11:09):
The only thing shining and new from my eyes was
the uss S a banner travel ball showcases. So not
so much baseball for all anymore as baseball for a
hall who can afford it. I know it sounds simple
to say a major league baseball player that these fields
were important in shaping my life, But I don't mean
(11:30):
my career. Mhm um. These fields where I learned a
game that I've played one thousand, four hundred seventy eight
times the major league level that I started on when
I was ten, eleven, twelve years old. That's exactly how
um how old um. He's talking about a kid who's
ended up uh getting a chance to play Major League baseball.
(11:50):
Can name Antoine? He couldn't read. He could barely say
his A, B c's. One morning, his mom was shuffling
Antoine and her siblings off to their aunt's house at
four am so she could work. They opened the door
and a man's stabbed to death on the ground, So
no sleep, traumatized by the murder literally outside their door,
eating who knows what for lunch. They had up to
school and they're expected to form in the classroom. He
(12:13):
goes on to talk about how there's only eight percent
but black players, um, and only to African American general
African American managers, one black general manager, no black majority
team owners. Uh. This kid, Antoine was twelve years old
when he started going to National's Youth Baseball Academy. That's
(12:36):
when it started existing in his universe. We got him
a tutor, he got another programs, he learned how to read.
He was on the right track. He died in his
eighteen shot thirty one times in d C. A sixteen
year old kid was just arrested for his murder. I'm
like Ian Desmond, you guys got to read. This post
is long, and it's really really interesting. And so he's
(12:59):
gonna take the year off. Still wants to play baseball,
he wants to be around his kids, and he wants
to help Sarah Sota little le and I commend him
for it, but I have to ask the other question,
which is, you know, kids emulate and and look, this
is a hard one because I can't It's it's hard
(13:21):
to find what the absolute positive answer to why the
numbers for uh black baseball players are so down right?
I mean, look, I think a lot of things about baseball,
but if baseball, if you can hit a baseball, if
you can throw a baseball, and no one's ever cared
if you're laden, no one's ever cared what other country
(13:43):
you come from with color skin? Is? This is about
the the amount of participation and access to it for
young black youth. Is there a there's there a lack
of cool factor? Sure, right, Michael Jordan's to Alan Iverson
to Penny Hardaway, to Shock to staff, to James Harden too,
(14:09):
you know, Lebron James. Obviously basketball players are. It's it's cooler,
right But but but that that could only be but
part of the reason that so many all kids, white kids,
black as no matter are drawn to basketball is the
cool factor, of the fun factors, constant action. But you know,
(14:30):
we emulate the people we see do it right, We emulate,
don't you. You Obviously you have a favorite player growing up,
like a guy you might have, you know, Mike, if
you're a Jordan guy, you're a Lebron guy, you're a
Penny guy, you're a grady guy, whatever you are. But
then there was usually somebody who you felt particularly drawn to,
(14:52):
maybe because he was from your area, but or maybe
more likely because he might look like you. You look,
I started playing basketball. My dad was a basketball coach,
just kind of what we did. But I was my
idols in the sport look like me, John Stockton, Mark Price,
Bobby Hurley. That doesn't mean like Sherman Douglas was a
(15:13):
guy that I'm trying to model my game after some
But you know, you're watching guys that look like you,
that feel like That's what I'm gonna look like when
I grow up, I can do what you can do it.
It's the same thing that black people have told you
about Obama, Like you don't understand unless you're black, to
see a black man as the president of the most
powerful man in the free world, like that is a
that that should change your perspective on what's possible. So
(15:36):
I guess here's my question for you and Desmond. I
fully understand that you are torn and you want to
protect your kids and you want to help the future.
But could you make the argument that you're actually hurting
the very population you want to help by staying home.
And here's why that's you're taking away one more black
(15:56):
face from baseball, right if it's only eight percent ball players,
that percented shrinks the second that he and Desmond, who's
been a terrific player for a long time in Major
League baseball, it takes them away from that. And and again,
I am not telling you I have the answer, and
I'm not telling you that what he's doing is a
bad thing. I think and some NBA players choosing in
(16:20):
the middle of their careers to not go play and
coming up with all kind of cockamami excuses that I think.
I feel like it's a little different than a guy
with four and one on the way, and he there's
a thoughtfulness to this, get it. But my my issue
is only in when you take a breath and you
try and cut the emotion out of an emotional, thoughtful piece.
(16:41):
It's okay, you're right, you know, the violence in our
inner cities is terrible. The access to baseball is it's
just too expensive a sport for anybody white, black, or
we or otherwise in our country right other countries you don't.
They don't seem to need it. And we've established academies,
(17:02):
you know, all these baseball teams have academies in these
countries so that they can find the best. But I
don't know, Vian Desmond is actually hurting the very thing
he wants to help if this is the reason that
he's sitting out. Be sure to catch the live edition
of The Doug Gottlieb Show weekdays at three p m.
Easter noon Pacific. Chris Mannox joins us from Sports Illustrated
(17:23):
Mannix what do you make of of the Brooklyn Nets. Well,
I'm not exactly sure who from the Brooklyn Nets will
be traveling down to Orlando at this point. Um, you know,
I I don't think Spencer did Witty is going to
ultimately be a part of it at all. I don't
know if he's officially announced that yet, but that's the
the inclination I'm getting. Obviously, DeAndre Jordan's is out, and
(17:48):
I don't know. I mean, look, there's motivation. I'm sure
you've talked about this on some level, but like, if
they don't make the playoffs, they get to keep their
first round draft picks. So if they, you know, slide
out of the postseason, think would be a lot of
people in Brooklyn perfectly happy with with that. So I
think that's uh, you know that that has to be
factored in here. You think about what the Nets are
(18:08):
gonna look like over the next month or so. Sex
Jack Vaughan, I was like, man, I'm trying to keep
his job here. Yeah, it does too, I think. You know, again,
this was all like three months ago, so god knows
what's changed in the minds of ownership there since then.
But I do think there was a desire in the
Nets front office for Jacques Vaughn to finish the season
(18:31):
and do enough to keep the job. I mean, there
was there's a lot of people in Brooklyn that have
incredible respect for Jack Vaughan. When when Kenny Atkinson was
new to the job, I mean, it was Jacque Vaughan
that was a strong voice in his ear as a
former head coach, kind of showing him the ropes along
the way. And it's been a big part of that staff.
So I think, you know, there are people in nets
front office. I know that hoped Jack von could do
(18:53):
enough to keep the job. Now, um, it's certainly gonna
be difficult for for that to happen. I I agree,
I agree, I mean, I just how does the I mean,
the league is just they gotta be just Besides, here's
what I understand. I get when you test positive for
the coronavirus. But but the idea is like fourteen days
of quarantine, you're you should be good to go, right
(19:16):
And and if if people are concerned about well, you know,
you get inside the bubble, you could get it like
these guys have it outside the bubble. But there's there's
no bubble to the outside world anymore. You actually are
safer once you get down there. Yeah, And and I
haven't followed up on the specific situation with Jordan's and
din Witty. But you know, by bowing out because of
(19:38):
the coronavirus um and being infected by it, it is
a way to stay off, you know, stay out of
all this and you know, keep your money. You know,
some of the guys that are fouling out, you know,
at least for right now, you know, the presumption is
they're not going to get paid, whether it's Avery Bradley
or Trevor Readsa. I ultimately dug and not to change
(20:00):
the question the answer here, but I openmately think that
everybody's gonna wind up getting paid because it's so hard
to take money away from players that don't play on
the playoff teams and give it to guys who are
not playing you know, right now, not playing basketball, not
reporting down to Orlando. But it is a fact that
if there's a health of related reason that you can't
(20:21):
go to Orlando, you are going to be able to
get paid and get all your money. So that's that's
something to think about when when factoring in some of
these decisions. Chris Mannocks join us in the Doug Alive
Show on Fox Sports Radio. Lakers are going to add JR.
Smith and yet they lose Avery Bradley. Are the Lakers
done adding? I think for now they're done adding because
(20:46):
the way it was was explained to me and I
believe this is going in. I mean that j R.
Smith was you know, break glass in case of emergency there.
I mean, they feel like they've got pretty solid depths
in that backcourt. Know Danny Green, who hasn't been great
this year, but it's been a great playoff performer in
years past. Caldwell Pope has got the confidence of of
(21:07):
Lebron Alex Caruso. I mean, you know this, but like
look look at the numbers out of crucial has with
Lebron's I think he's the highest plus minus of any
player with Lebron um you know, on anybody on that roster.
He's really good partically playing with him. So you bring
j R. In and they worked him out before. Dion
Waiters part of that mixed too. I mean, I think
they're they're comfortable with with what they have right now.
(21:29):
There's no doubt like Avery Bradley is a crushing loss.
I I wrote this when they signed Avery Bradley. I
love Avery Bradley. I think he gets a bad rap
sometimes and he did have a rough goal with the Clippers,
but the guy defends multiple positions. He can shoot for
three reasonably well as a backup ball handler when you
need him. I mean that that guy was playing what
(21:51):
five minutes per game and was having his best month
in the month of March when he went out. So,
I mean it's a body blow for that team. But
I just think the Lakers feel like they're they're at
the point where anybody they bring in is just in
case another injury or another defection happens. Doug Olive Show
here on Fox Sports Radio, I agree with you. Okay,
(22:11):
what about Lou Williams. What are you hearing about the
like because that would be the tip for tat right
is we don't know if Lou Williams will go Uh Ultimately,
what do you think happens with the Clippers? Yeah, I mean, look,
if Lou Williams isn't available, that that's that's a bigger
loss I think than every brand. That just because Lou
Williams is such an instrumental part of their bench scoring
(22:33):
that that is a tough one to overcome on. I
don't know, I mean, like I guess I just see
when it actually happens, he decides if he's not gonna play.
But for for that would be I think that would
be the equivalent or or worse of the loss of
Davy's a different kind of loss because Lou Williams would
bring much defensively, but what he does offensively, I mean
(22:55):
he goes without saying that the guy's a multi time
six man winner. I mean he's he's as good as
they have to say at the back of scoring point
card position, Doug alliave show you're unfod okay. So then
you have like the Bucks who are out there, you know,
laying in wait. This is this is huge. How important
is it for the Bucks to perform well? Because we
know what's coming this this offseason is the super Max
(23:17):
contract that is without any question, going to be offered
to Janice. He doesn't have to accept it. But how
important is at least an NBA Finals appearance to the Bucks.
I think it's really important. And I don't think anything
sage from the perception we had going into all this
that Milwaukee had to have a great playoffs and great
(23:37):
playoffs you know, probably was defined as a trip to
the finals to get Janice to sign long term now
things have obviously seems a little bit this whole you know,
the pandemic playoffs are a little bit different, and you know,
there's one of the things you have the factor in
your honest they want to stay in Milwaukee, but because
of the uncertainty of the economic landscape moving forward, there
(23:59):
might be financial reasons not to sign that that long
term extension right now. I mean, it's there's a lot
of of of moving that can happen with that, that
salary cap and and the collective bargaining agreement in the
next year that could could make it just smarter to
sit back and and wait for it. And that's something
I think it makes even more sense for Janice right now.
(24:20):
So one way the other does he could decide not
to not to sign there. I will say this, it's
going to be I mean, I'm I'm tentatively planning on
going down trying to get into the bubble. That's got
to my plan at this moment. It's I almost want
to sit in the Bucks Hotel because they're sharing the
hotel with Toronto and Miami, like two teams that are
(24:42):
going to make, you know, an incredible run at at
Janice in the in the coming year, like that's gonna
be that as one CM called it, the temple of
tampering there where you have guys maybe recruiting Janice throughout
the course of that playoff. That is almost a sidelight
to all this, you know, those three teams sharing one hotel.
The only issue I have with with with not sign
(25:03):
the contract is there could be another side to the
financial stuff, right like when we come back online, we
don't know when you'll be able to get people into arenas.
And once they get into arenas, you know, the economy
has to have a massive turnaround for people to the
expectations that people in corporations are even gonna buy seats.
M hm, no, I get it, um okay, Look, and
(25:26):
he could sign that contract. All I'm saying is that
things have changed so much that we don't know, you know,
could the end be Could the collected Bartain Grinn be
reopened next year? If it looks like in you know,
September October that there's no chance to have fans in
buildings throughout season. There's just a lot of that that
just changed the landscape a little bit. From well he
(25:48):
doesn't sign it, you really almost have to trade him
to where if he doesn't sign it, it might be
for a different reason than he doesn't want to be
in Milwaukee. He could put the Bucks in a tough
position where they could just have to roll the dice
and hope that he wants to stay. But it's not
as cut and dry, I think as it used to be. Yeah,
I would agree with you. It's just gonna be fascinating
to see what happens economically with with with so many
(26:12):
of these teams. Chris Bannocks join us from the Doug
Gotlief Show on Fox Sports. Trader, if you had to
pick a team that you think could be in the
NBA Finals that we haven't, we we mentioned three teams.
Who would the other? Who is the most likely sleeper team? Uh, well,
I'll give you to one of the West and one
of the East. In the West, they're not even the
playoffs right now. But I look at Portland's I mean,
(26:34):
they're one of those teams that has been completely changed
since the end of the season. They're going to roll
back with Yusef Nurkic and Zach Collins, two guys that
are enormously important for them and have been out for
all or most of the year. Uh in the case
of Nurk out since that grotesque injury from over a
year ago. Those are I don't know what kind of
shape they're both in at this point, what they can give,
(26:56):
but they're back and they're gonna be able to play.
And when you have those guys, you know, kind of
shoring up the front court. If Livitt McCollum catch fires,
they can be downright unbeatable. So if they make a
run sneak in the playing game, Um, I just I
think they can be a scary team in the bottom
half of that playoffs. And look, the last time we
went through something like this, or not the last time,
(27:17):
but one of the last times was the gate seed Nicks,
you know, making a run us the NBA Finals. So
strange things happen in strange years. Eastern Conference, I've written
this before, but in Philadelphia for a lot of the
same reason as Portland's. I mean, they they're almost built
for pandemic basketball where teams can't make threes for the
most part and you have to flug it out in
(27:37):
maybe five types of games because of scoring, and the
skill level is so bad. They can defend at elite
levels at at least three positions. Al Horfors in bad
all year has been really good in the playoffs for
Boston for the last few years. Maybe he steps his
game back up. And Simmons being back when he wouldn't
have been back in mid March is a total game changer.
So I Philadelphia to me is almost gone from a
(27:59):
team that was right there on the cusp of being
just potentially broken up. Brett Brown could have been gone,
Brand could have been gone. You might be talking with
trading Simmons or embiid to break them up to being
in a point right now where I guarantee you with
the next situation, those top teams in the East are
going to be finding a way way to get away
from Philadelphia. They will not want to play them in
(28:21):
the first round if at all possible. And the Sixers,
if they can get enough offense, I think they can
make a run too. Chris mannos our guest in the
Doug Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports Radio, that there
was a report last night from Major Wards Nawski that
they're going to have Black Lives Matter on the floor
in Orlando. Is that accurate? That's accurate. Yeah, that's the
that's the plan right now to have it. I don't
(28:43):
know what the word is and Boston or whatever on
the court in Orlando. Um, has anybody thought of the
I mean, like is it. Look, I can sit here
and tell you that I'm just as bothered as anybody
at what happened to George Floyd and some of the
other videos and things that I know do occur. But
as anybody who thought of the you know, you don't
(29:06):
have to be like it does feel like you're picking
a You're you're very much picking a side in a debate,
and you're not like the idea for like what if
somebody in the back of their jersey wanted to put
them won't but Trump like he is the president? You know,
Like I don't. I don't know like it. It feels
like you're going like, hey, we want free speech, you
(29:27):
want but you're not really You're saying, this is exactly
what we want to say as a league, and that's
kind of the opposite of the intent. Yeah, look, I
think it's it's a fair question. I think what the
NBA is doing right now is first and foremost reaction
to what the concerns players brought up in that Kyrie Irving,
(29:50):
Avery Bradley lead phone call. I think the NBA all
along was going to try to alleviate those concerns. But
you know, the concerns that the social se movement could
get lost in the shuffle of a resumed NBA c's
are very real in the minds of players. You know,
Fred van Bleep at a conference call this week where
you know, he talked about how, you know, reluctant he
(30:12):
was to come back, and he said, if there were
more people that had said, uh, you know, we're not
coming back, he might have joined them in in all that. So,
I think the NBA wanted to make sure that an
addressed player concerns and this was something Remember, this is
something the NBA is not just unial laterally saying you know,
let's here's an idea, let's do it. It's done, and
decisions are made in concert with Michelle Roberts and Chris
(30:35):
Paul with the union. This is something that they want
and something the NBA is fine with doing. So like
you could be right, like they are. They could be
picking a side and they could if somebody does, you know,
put something potentially controversial on their jersey, or if players
and maths take a knee during the anthem in the
same way the National Women's Soccer League players. Did you
(30:55):
know we could have a highly politicized conversation, you know,
spearheaded present. But here's the thing, Manx and like, look,
if you look at the women in the National Women's
Professional Soccer League, that took me one woman to not
right now she had her hand on her teammates shoulder.
Who who who was kneeling like I do, I of
(31:19):
course everybody. I mean, like I would think that people
want people want justice for George Floyd, justice for Brianna
Taylor and and and others. On the other hand, like
the everyone's plan is not the same, you know, And
I just I think it's I think it's fascinating that,
(31:39):
in an effort to to you know, pacify, I think
a portion and I don't know if it's a majority,
Even if it is a majority of the players, you're
actually limiting free speech by saying, we are aligning ourselves
with this one political movement. And I kind of think
that's a dangerous path, not just because you're actually cutting
off any any conversation, but you also run the risk
(32:02):
of alienating a portion of your fan base. And you
may say you don't care, like I wouldn't care about
the super all right, but there's plenty of other people
that don't think completely along the same lines that are
reasonable human beings and citizens of this country that are
paying you know, they're paying customers. I just I think
there's a dangerous path. I don't disagree with you. I
think that it's it is a dangerous path to be on. UM.
(32:27):
I think it's it's almost unavoidable to lose some fans
in this process because there are going to be some
people that you know, see players with certain things on
their jerseys, or see the Black Lives Matter uh and
embossed on these courts, or see players taken knee and
will be automatically turned off by it in the same
(32:47):
way fans were turned off in the NFL. But it's
just look, there's no solution here. There's no like you
or I cannot sit here and say here's exactly what
you should do. The NBA is making a choice, and
it is the league that is. I think we uh
black players, minority players, So I think this is the
way they're choosing, and and they'll live with the fallout.
(33:09):
US it's gonna be it's it is. It will be fascinating. Man,
it's great stuff. I can't wait to hear your bubble
preparations if in fact you go into the bubble and
the update of what's really going on in the bubble.
I wonder if you keep a blogger of v log
in the meantime. Thanks for joining us. Why not, Doug,
I'm I'm unmarried, no kids. Why hell wouldn't I go
in the bubble. I don't know why you would. I
wouldn't want to know anybody like you know. Thanks so much.
(33:30):
Man's Chris Banks joining us on The Doug Gotlip Show
on Fox Sports Radio.
Host
Doug Gottlieb
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.